Anja Riedel

          “V TACH! Charge paddles to 200, clear!” This may be the most used sentence in all 13 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy. The surgeons on one of ABC’s most successful television dramas continuously resuscitate dying patients, and their romantic relationships. Arizona Robbins and Calliope Torres have the sole same-sex relationship featured throughout the majority of the series, adding LGBTQ inclusion in the most basic sense, but remains an relatively inaccurate representation of the community as a whole and lesbians in particular.
Welcome to Shondaland
          Creator Shonda Rhimes has a reputation for creating shows ahead of their time, challenging common character roles and developing episodes around current societal issues and political climates. With a ratio of 19 female producers to 16 male producers, the forward-thinking show may be a result of forward thinking women working to make the hit show representative of all sexualities, races and genders. Rhimes, an honoree at the 23^rd annual GLAAD Media Awards, responded to a tweet questioning why her shows include so many gay and lesbian storylines, saying, “because I believe everyone should get to see themselves reflected on TV. EVERYONE.”  The reason I chose to analyze Grey’s Anatomy because as someone who has become intimately attached to its characters, I have always had the impression that it was leading the way in changing television norms.
The Bisexual Latina
          Callie Torres is Grey’s Anatomy’s resident Latina. Callie is of Hispanic descent, this only being apparent by her traditional, Latino, Catholic father making a handful of appearances throughout the series. Although moments of her Hispanic heritage are few and far apart, her sexuality challenges the stereotypes that are generally associated with her racial and religious identities, providing viewers with a strong, bisexual, Catholic, Latina woman. Callie identifies as bisexual in season five of the long-running show, solely having dated men in the past, Callie portrays a character grasping to find her identity, displaying an internal struggle with experimentation and sexuality, something representative of many in the LGBTQ community. Her first same-sex relationship with Dr. Erica Hahn is one that began for the male gaze, using the idea of a threesome with Dr. Mark Sloane to turn him on and enhance their heterosexual relationship. Callie’s character further develops, leaving behind the male gaze and moving on to a more serious, although very unstable, romantic relationship with Dr. Arizona Robbins.  Later, when Callie comes out to her parents, she faces their rejection of her sexuality, and challenges her father in a Bible verse war aiming to earn his acceptance, but simultaneously showing viewers that religion and homosexuality can be rectified.
The Prettiest Pink Lipstick 
          Arizona Robbins is a white woman, who knew she identified as a lesbian from a young age and had strong familial support. Raised by a Colonel in the army and named after the U.S.S. Arizona, Robbins challenges the army brat stereotype and the stereotype that her powerful military father would be unaccepting of her non-normative sexuality. A lipstick lesbian, Arizona is blonde, beautiful, perky and a successful pediatric surgeon. Arizona is the stereotypical femme lesbian woman, perhaps cast as a tactic to ease viewers in to the idea of a prominent same-sex relationship on the show (Ross, 2014). In later episodes, Arizona informs Callie that she has no desire to have children or to be a mother. Although Arizona ends up becoming a mother, the initial conversation challenges the stereotype that all women have an innate maternal instinct and are driven by their hormonal need to reproduce. Callie and Arizona eventually become mothers, not drifting too far away from the female stereotype, in order to appease viewers that are less likely to be accepting of non-normative storylines.
All Aboard the Lesbian Roller Coaster
          The relationship between Callie and Arizona is similar to that of a tumultuous high-school relationship, if you add in scalpels and a plane crash. The rollercoaster that is their relationship symbolizes the stereotype that lesbian woman cannot have a stable relationship, all the hormones and such. With almost the entirety of their relationship taking place within the hospital, their co-workers and ex-lovers are constantly around the corner, as is the green-eyed monster. Callie struggles with Arizona’s “loose” past with women in the hospital, as Arizona similarly struggles with Callie’s past relationship with Dr. Mark Sloan. The jealously is an ongoing aspect of their relationship, representing the stereotype that all women are jealous and not confident in themselves or their relationships. Sex is a prominent aspect of Grey’s Anatomy but mysteriously not a prominent aspect of Callie and Arizona’s relationship. Unlike the other romantic relationships on the show, Callie and Arizona’s sex life is more about innuendos and stolen kisses, keeping the same-sex relationship very PG for viewers and easier to accept.
Conclusion
          For viewers, the inclusion of long-standing LGBTQ characters is valuable in adding diversity to the heteronormativity of television and possibly ending Dead Lesbian Syndrome, even though Rhimes is infamous for killing off major characters (Tropes). In a qualitative research study conducted at Thiel College, “ninety percent of the teens interviewed agreed that, as they were coming to terms with their identity, they were specifically watching television looking for gay and lesbian characters as acknowledgement of who they were” (Evans). The value in adding racial, gender and sexually diverse characters is more than simple inclusion, but in giving everyone an opportunity to truly see actors like them. Grey’s Anatomy may be one of the most forward thinking shows, with plenty of inclusion, but still lacking in representation.
 
References
"Bury Your Gays." TV Tropes. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

Evans, Victor D. "Curved TV: The Impact of Televisual Images on Gay Youth." American Communication Journal 9 (2007): n. pag. AC Journal. American Community Journal, 3 Oct. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

Ross, Karen. The Handbook of Gender, Sex, and Media. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2014. 241-311. Print.
 

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